To commemorate "The Age
of Steam" we have a 'First Day Cover' with the set of stamps issued
on 18th January 1994 with the special 'York' cancel with an unused 5 Pound
banknote showing George Stephenson and the his railway engine - "The
Rocket". The banknote is the type issued by G.E.A. Kentfield in 1993

Historical
notes: found at - www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RArocket.htm

Ten locomotives were originally entered for the
Rainhill
Trials but only five turned up and two of these were withdrawn during the
first couple of days of the trials. By the third day the Rocket was the
only locomotive left in the competition. That day it covered 35 miles in 3 hours
12 minutes. Hauling 13 tons of loaded wagons, the Rocket averaged over 12
mph. On one trip it reached 25 mph and on a locomotive-only run, 29 mph.

The
£500 first prize went to the owners of the Rocket. The contract to
produce locomotives for the Liverpool
& Manchester Railway went to the Robert Stephenson Company at Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

In 1830 the Rocket was modified. A smokebox was added and the chimney was
shortened. The following year the cylinders was reduced from 35 degrees to 8
degrees, which made it a much more steady ride. The modified Rocket
worked on the Liverpool
& Manchester line until the late 1830s. It was then sold and finished
its working life in Carlisle.